Tag: bibb

How popular is the baby name Bibb in the United States right now? How popular was it historically? Find out using the graph below! Plus, see baby names similar to Bibb and check out all the blog posts that mention the name Bibb.

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Popularity of the Baby Name Bibb

Number of Babies Named Bibb

Born in the U.S. Since 1880

Posts that Mention the Name Bibb

Racist South Carolina politician Coleman Blease inspired 2 baby name debuts on the U.S. charts.That headline makes me squirm a little, but it’s true: I’ve found a handful of baby names on the SSA’s list inspired by racists.

Racist politicians, to be specific.

Decades ago, these demagogues used race‑baiting as a way to win elections in the former Confederate states — the same states that have only recently started to pull down their Confederate flags in the wake of last month’s horrific Charleston church shooting.

In fact, the ongoing Confederate flag controversy is what reminded me to finally post about these names, as the names (just like the flag) can be seen as symbols of either “racism” or “southern pride” depending on your point of view.

(Please note that the SSA data below refers only to male usage, and that I’ve only included state data that refers to the state in question.)

Coleman Blease

(1868-1842)

White supremacist Coleman “Coley” Blease was a politician from South Carolina:

U.S. Senator from South Carolina, 1925-1931

South Carolina Governor, 1911-1915

South Carolina Senator, 1907-1909

South Carolina Representative, 1890-1894, 1899-1901

Here’s part of an article about a speech Blease delivered regarding the lynching of Willis Jackson in 1911:

“[Blease] stated that rather than use the office of governor in ordering out troops to defend a negro brute and require those troops to fire on white citizens, he would resign from the office to which he had been elected, and would have caught the train to Honea Path and led the mob.”

Of all the men listed here, Blease (rhymes with “please”) had the biggest impact on baby names, including not one but two SSA debuts. I’d call this impressive if it weren’t so disturbing.

The baby names Colie and Blease both debuted in 1911. Colie was the top debut on the national list that year, in fact. The names Coley, Cole, and Coleman also started seeing more usage in South Carolina around that time.

SSA Data

Colie

Coley

Cole

Coleman

Blease

1917

13 (9 in SC)

19 (5 in SC)

19 (6 in SC)

110 (8 in SC)

9 (8 in SC)

1916

22 (13 in SC)

18 (7 in SC)

25 (10 in SC)

120 (10 in SC)

15 (14 in SC)

1915

21 (12 in SC)

21 (7 in SC)

26 (13 in SC)

116 (8 in SC)

17 (15 in SC)

1914

18 (15 in SC)

23 (10 in SC)

23 (12 in SC)

102 (12 in SC)

15 (14 in SC)

1913

16 (8 in SC)

15 (6 in SC)

19 (9 in SC)

75 (5 in SC)

20 (19 in SC)

1912

23 (21 in SC)

19 (9 in SC)

23 (11 in SC)

69 (15 in SC)

12 (all 12 in SC)

1911

16** (8 in SC)

9 (7 in SC)

10 (unlisted)

36 (unlisted)

8** (all 8 in SC)

1910

unlisted (unlisted)

7 (unlisted)

6 (unlisted)

40 (6 in SC)

unlisted (unlisted)

**Debut on national list.

And, just to be thorough, here’s the SSDI data for these five names over the same time period. (As usual I’m only counting first names here, not middles.)

SSDI Data

Colie

Coley

Cole

Coleman

Blease

1917

14

17

17

134

12

1916

25

29

28

144

9

1915

28

27

25

125

13

1914

27

40

33

147

13

1913

38

45

38

133

26

1912

69

65

57

138

29

1911

29

39

32

132

14

1910

19

38

19

124

8

If you do want to count middle names, though, Blease was much more common than the above number suggest, as many people got first-middle combos such as…

Here’s a quote from Bilbo’s book Take Your Choice: Separation or Mongrelization, published in 1947:

“The South stands for blood, for the preservation of the blood of the white race. To preserve her blood, the white South must absolutely deny social equality to the Negro regardless of what his individual accomplishments might be. This is the premise — openly and frankly stated — upon which Southern policy is based.”

The baby name Bilbo appeared on the SSA’s list during the 1910s and 1920s, and almost all of these Bilbos were born in the state of Mississippi:

According to the SSA data, peak usage was in 1911. But according to the SSDI data there were two peaks: one in 1911 (16 babies with the first name Vardaman) and and earlier one in 1903 (20 babies with the first name Vardaman, including one with the full name Vardaman Vandevender).

In 1908, while a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, he had shot and seriously wounded a black man who confronted him on a Washington streetcar. Although indicted, Heflin succeeded in having the charges dismissed. In subsequent home-state campaigns, he cited that shooting as one of his major career accomplishments.

Hoke Smith

(1855-1931)

M. Hoke Smith was a politician from Georgia:

U.S. Senator from Georgia, 1911-1921

Georgia Governor, 1911-1911

U.S. Secretary of the Interior, 1893-1896

Here are some quotes from Smith:

According to [Hoke] Smith, it would be “folly for us to neglect any means within our reach to remove the present danger of Negro domination.” He also approved the use of “any means” to purge elected African American officeholders.

Usage of the baby name Hoke began to peter out mid-century, but during the first half of the century (when it was making the U.S. national list regularly) most of the baby boys named Hoke were born in Georgia specifically:

1916: 15 baby boys named Hoke, 9 (60%) born in Georgia

1915: 15 baby boys named Hoke, 10 (67%) born in Georgia

1914: 18 baby boys named Hoke, 11 (61%) born in Georgia

1913: 12 baby boys named Hoke, 7 (58%) born in Georgia

1912: 9 baby boys named Hoke, 8 (89%) born in Georgia

1911: 9 baby boys named Hoke, 8 (89%) born in Georgia

1910: 19 baby boys named Hoke, 16 (84%) born in Georgia [GA debut]

1909: 10 baby boys named Hoke, unlisted in Georgia

Some of these namesakes, like Hoke Smith Rawlins (b. 1931 in Georgia), got Smith as a middle name.

Murphy Foster

(1849-1921)

Murphy J. Foster was a politician from Louisiana:

U.S. Senator from Louisiana, 1901-1913

Louisiana Governor, 1892-1900

Louisiana State Senator, 1880-1892

Here’s Foster (as governor) talking about the disfranchisement of blacks under the newly approved Louisiana Constitution:

“The white supremacy for which we have so long struggled at the cost of so much precious blood and treasure is now crystallized into the Constitution as a fundamental part and parcel of that organic instrument […] There need be no longer any fear as to the honesty and purity of our future elections.”

For at least half of the 20th century (from the 1910s to the 1960s) a significant proportion of the U.S. baby boys named Murphy were born in Louisiana specifically:

…And the racist-inspired baby names don’t end there! Many other racist politicians from the South, even if they didn’t appreciably affect the baby name charts, still had an influence on baby names. Here are two examples:

Still other politicians, like 2-time Alabama Governor Bibb Graves, are borderline cases. Graves was a progressive politician, but he was initially elected with the help of the Klu Klux Klan, which he was a member of at the time (he later quit).

Finally, here’s the thing I’m most curious about: How did all of the namesakes accounted for above come to feel about their names in adulthood? Were they proud? Ashamed? A mix of both…?

Though vast majority of the baby names on the Social Security Administration’s yearly baby name lists are repeats, every list does contain a handful of brand-new names.

Below are the highest-charting debut names for every single year on record, after the first.

Why bother with an analysis like this? Because debut names often have cool stories behind them, and high-hitting debuts are especially likely to have intriguing pop culture explanations. So this is more than a list of names — it’s also a list of stories.

Here’s the format: “Girl name(s), number of baby girls; Boy name(s), number of baby boys.” Keep in mind that the raw numbers aren’t too trustworthy for about the first six decades, though. (More on that in a minute.)

I’ve already written about some of the names above, and I plan to write about all the others as well…eventually. In the meanwhile, if you want to beat me to it and leave a comment about why Maverick hit in 1957, or why Moesha hit in 1996, feel free!

Today’s name belongs in that latter group. In fact, the explanation for today’s name is *so* inconspicuous that I haven’t been able to piece it together, even after months of trying.

So I’m giving up. I’m just going to post what I know and hope that some wise soul leaves a comment that helps me unravel the mystery. :)

The name is Laquita. (It’s often written LaQuita in obituaries.) It debuted on the SSA’s baby name list in 1930, coming out of nowhere to be given to an impressive 68 baby girls that year.

Now, the number 68 might seem trivial. Today’s most popular names are given to tens of thousands of babies each, after all. As far as newbie names go, though, 68 is huge. Especially when you’re talking about the early 20th century. Here’s some context:

Laquita jumped into the top 1,000 right away, ranking 874th. It remained there for the next three years.

Here’s a final fact that could be helpful: None of the 28 1930-Laquitas listed in the SSDI were born during the first four months of the year. The name starts to show up in May, with 3 Laquitas born that month. This may mean that a mid-year event triggered the spike.